Sugar Rush
by incrrctmtrgrdn
Summary: "I like you." Nobody said it that night, but they both knew they did.
1. She's really cute

When Dylan Wang first saw Shen Yue, he thought she was rather plain. She was this thin sulky girl on the corner of the room. She looked like she didn't want to be there and she poked and pressed on her phone like it was nobody's business. It was so awkward, because Dylan was supposed to work with this girl for four straight months at least.

"Hey, hey. Look at Shen Yue." Xize called for their attention. They were all inside a waiting area, passing time before they had to be called for script reading prior to shooting.

There were a few people in the room. All their road managers were gathered around the table, talking about something. The four of them, Chen Kuan Hong or Darren Chen, Liang Jing Kang or Connor Leong, Wu Xize or Caesar Wu, and him Wang He Di or Dylan Wang, were settled on the sofas near the door.

But Shen Yue was all alone in a leather armchair near the window.

When they all got here, she was already on the chair, typing away on her phone. She nodded at them when they entered the room, but after that they were ignored.

"What's up with her? Is she a snob or something?" Dylan couldn't help but ask. He arched his eyebrows towards Shen Yue's direction. If he's going to have to work with this girl and she keeps this up, he assumed they will have problems.

"I guess she's tired." Kuan Hong said, looking her way. "Oh look!" He pointed silently.

They all turned to look at her. She was silently dozing off, her right hand propping her head up.

"She's pretty cute, isn't it?" Liang Jing Kang commented.

All three of them looked at him, puzzled.

"You like her?" Xize exclaimed, bewildered.

"What? No. I was just observing her." Liang Jing Kang deadpanned. "Don't you think she's cute? She's so little."

"Yeah, she's so small." Kuan Hong laughed. "She'd look like a kid next to us, especially to you, man." He pointed at Dylan.

"Yeah. You'd be doing lots of scenes with her." Xize said to Dylan.

"I don't know if that would suck or not." Dylan sighed.

The four of them dropped the topic of Shen Yue at the same time. They talked about the most random things: basketball, Liang Jing Kang's shoes, their road managers, and the script.

But Dylan's eyes would occasionally dart from Shen Yue's location to the other three. She really had to be tired, seeing as she was already knocked out on the chair. This time, she wasn't pretending to be awake by propping her head up. Now, she was lying across the armchair, with her head on one arm rest and both her legs on the other, fast asleep.

Her arms were folded on top of her chest, and Dylan could see that she was slightly shivering. He hadn't noticed before, but her face was also kind of pale.

Dylan was about to say something when Shen Yue's road manager got up from the table, pulled a blanket from one of the bags, then wrapped Shen Yue in it. She was awaken by that motion from her road manager, but her road manager just whispered something to her then she fell back asleep.

Soon, all the road managers went to their place on the sofas.

"Hey guys, do you want to grab something to eat? They said script reading won't start until two hours later." Kuan Hong's road manager said.

All at once, the other three started to speak, mentioning restaurants around the place and food they should order. But Dylan's eyes immediately searched for Shen Yue. And true to his hunch, the noise was bugging her sleep. Her brows were scrunched, and she was clutching her blanket closer.

"Hey, hey guys. Could you speak more silently? Yueyue's asleep." It was Shen Yue's manager who spoke.

"Is she sick?" Dylan couldn't help but ask.

"She's a little feverish. She hasn't had enough sleep for three days and she's eating little so…" The woman trailed off.

They all went silent for a while, most of them looking at Shen Yue who was now facing the backrest of the armchair.

"Are we gonna leave her here? I don't think that will be a good idea." Kuan Hong said.

"Should we just order takeaway?" asked Dylan. Then he ventured slightly. "She's sick. She has to eat. Maybe we should order something she'd like so she'll definitely eat?"

Shen Yue was awakened by her road manager when the ramen arrived.

They all crowded the table, but there wasn't enough space so Dylan, Kuan Hong and Xize had to eat on the low coffee table by the couch. The three of them sat cross legged, blowing the steam to each other's faces. They were all laughing when a Shen Yue wrapped in a blanket placed her bowl on the table, waddled a little then plonked beside Dylan. She smiled at them like she was getting a treat, then proceeded to eat.

This left the boys to stare at her. Kuan Hong was one of the braver kinds to initiate conversation.

"You're gonna choke on that." Kuan Hong commented, quite amused. Shen Yue was wolfing down noodles at a very fast rate.

"Nah." She looked at him, waving her chopsticks.

"I'm pretty sure you're gonna." Xize said, watching her warily as he ate his ramen.

And just like what they thought, the girl started coughing after a few minutes. Dylan was very quick to give her water.

"Slow down, missy. No one's taking that." Dylan said as he helped her to some table napkins. Shen Yue managed to smile at them before taking a big breath.

"Thanks." She smiled, biting on one of her fish cakes. "I'm sorry I haven't introduced myself, I'm Shen Yue by the way." She extended her hand for them to shake.

After doing so, all of them fell silent, enjoying the meal. Xize would occasionally strike up a conversation, but all of them would go back to eating or scrolling on their phones.

Dylan took this as an opportunity to look at Shen Yue closely. She was sitting adjacent to him, eating away on her katsu. She would take occasional glances around the room and outside the window, but only when she was not so busy chewing her food. He took this as a good time to talk to her.

"You're not sick anymore?" Dylan asked.

She looked at her with wide eyes, at first with shock, then with a look that said she was mulling over her answer. Then she shook her head. "No, I don't think so. I'm feeling a little dizzy though." She pushed her plate of katsu away. "How did you know I was sick?"

"Your road manager told us." he said, earning a nod from her. Then he promptly added. "You're Chen Xiaoxi right?"

She looked bashful. Shen Yue gave a silent 'yeah' before returning to her food.

"Some of my friends watched it, they loved you there." Xize commented from the other end of the table.

"Chen Xiaoxi? Is that a character from what drama?" Kuan Hong asked.

"A Love So Beautiful. She played the lead there, Chen Xiaoxi who was so in love with Jiang Chen." Xize explained to Kuan.

Kuan nodded, then he turned to Shen Yue. "Can I watch it?"

"Oh you better not!" Shen Yue said. Then she added shyly. "It wasn't my best, and it'd be really awkward."

Kuan smiled kindly. "It would not. I'm sure it was good."

Shen Yue waved her chopsticks again, shaking her head with it. "No. Please don't. It was bad enough I was in it."

They all laughed after that. The other three went on to ask each other about previous shows they starred in. Kuan and Shen Yue even recalled their brief meeting in Taiwan months back. Shen Yue was laughing about Kuan's hair, and Kuan was trying to find things he could tease Shen Yue about, but to no avail.

Dylan sat and laughed with them, looking back and forth to his co-workers. They all looked like doe-eyed people in naturally high spirits. Eventually, Liang Jing Kang joined them and they killed time by chattering about the most nonsensical things. They laughed at the littlest details of stories they would tell.

It was five minutes to three in the afternoon when someone from the production team of Meteor Garden knocked on the door to inform them that the script reading would be in five minutes. All of them stood up and started stretching, except for Shen Yue who was still wrapped in a blanket and waddling back to her leather armchair.

"You look like a burrito." Dylan commented as Shen Yue started to untangle herself from the blanket. She arched an eyebrow at him before smiling.

"Do I?"

"Yeah."

Shortly after the script reading, Angie Chai invited all of them to dinner. They went to a hotpot place with almost all of the main cast and the whole team.

They almost occupied the whole restaurant. Dylan, Kuan Hong, Wu Xize, Liang Jing Kang, Shen Yue, Li Jia Qi, Sun Yi Han and other cast members sat on a separate table. It seemed to Dylan that they all clicked immediately.

Everyone was talking merrily to each other like they had been friends for a long time, and they were starting to have inside jokes.

After eating, they even went to a KTV bar to have some "good time before hell starts" according to Angie Chai. They occupied a large room and soon enough, everybody was hooting and singing.

Dylan was having a good time himself. He had a few drinks and was singing along happily to Liang Jing Kang when someone from the corner of his eye caught his attention. It was Shen Yue, and she was sitting at a corner again with her legs folded up to her chest. She appeared to be embracing herself and shivery, but she would sometimes sing along to whatever song is up.

Shen Yue caught his eye, and she winked at him before looking at the screen again. Within a heartbeat, Dylan was sitting beside her.

"Hey, you coming down with that fever again?" He asked, bowing down a little to see her face. She was pale, and her eyes were puffy and teary. "You look sick."

"Nah, I'm good. I'll have two days off starting tomorrow, it's gonna be fine." she smiled, patting his arm. "How about you? Enjoying this?" she gestured in front of her.

Dylan looked at one of the associate producers belting a Chinese ballad. He souned really awful, but they were all laughing and cheering for him. Then the guy tried to reach a high note.

"I'm having ear cancer."

"Yeah me too. He shouldn't be allowed to sing."

They both snickered. They continued to secretly badmouth a few of their co-workers including Kuan Hong when Dylan realized that Shen Yue was slowly dozing off again. She was trying to keep her eyes open, but her head was falling back to the couch's backrest.

"Missy, I think you should go home." Dylan slightly nudged her, which made her bolt upright.

After Dylan was done laughing, Shen Yue replied, "Ugh, I'm so sleepy but I don't want to leave yet. If I leave early, they'll end the night early too."

"How about you sleep for a while? Fifteen minutes is good for a powernap, and I'll go cover you?" Dylan offered.

She seemed to be pondering over her choices, but after a minute or so, she raised her thumb at him then slightly leaned on the backrest. Dylan looked around, seeing if anyone can see her sleeping at this angle. It was pretty exposed, so Dylan had to sit closer to Shen Yue in order to hide her completely from view.

In the end, Shen Yue ended up sleeping for a whole thirty minutes, with her head leaning on his back. It was kind of painful for Dylan, for he had to lean forward in an awkward position to support her head and still hide her from view.

It was past midnight when they all decided to go home. It was also Dylan's cue to wake Shen Yue up.

"Shen Yue…" he called gently, tapping her knees. "It's time to wake up."

After several taps, she finally took a sharp breath on Dylan's back before stretching her limbs. Dylan straightened his back and listened as his bones snapped.

"That's more than fifteen minutes, Wang He Di." she said, rubbing her eyes with her clenched fists.

"You slept for thirty minutes. Am I not the best? Nobody saw you." He jabbed his thumb towards the crowd.

This smug remark earned a 'tch' from her. The both of them stood up and stretched as their road managers called for them.

When they reached the parking lot, all of them said their 'goodbyes' and 'see you soons'.

"Ya, thanks for the nap a while ago." Shen Yue said, smiling up at him. She was really little.

"You should drink some medicine, missy." He raised his hand for a wave good-bye. "Bye."

"Bye Dao Ming Si."

"Bye Shan Cai."

They both smiled and winked at each other.

On the drive home, Dylan Wang could not stop thinking about the day and his co-workers. He thought he would be good friends with the rest of the new F4, plus Shen Yue was pretty nice.

 _And… alright, she was pretty cute too._


	2. Get yourself cozy

Dylan Wang's phone was about to explode.

Since their first meeting, he was suddenly added in a WeChat group with the other three fourths of F4. Everyday, he would wake up to hundreds of unread messages from last night, mostly Kuan Hong sending memes and Xize sending voice messages of his commentary of Kuan Hong's memes.

Then three days later, there was another group created, now with Shen Yue in it. All of a sudden, the previous group chat was ignored, and this new group chat, which Shen Yue proudly named "Meteor Rain", was now the one swarming with messages.

Dylan could barely open the chat without 5 separate messages popping up. Most of which are Kang and Kuan Hong bickering over the pettiest topic, or Xize reprimanding Kang and Kuan Hong for bickering. He noticed Shen Yue was also pretty active in the group chat too. She would send memes if she ever chanced upon one while surfing the internet, which was a lot.

Right now, all of them were called for a photoshoot for Meteor Garden's initial publicity material. They were told that these pictures will be released during the official introduction of the new Meteor Garden cast.

Of course, that meant everybody was excited to see each other. Kuan Hong was quite ecstatic. He was bombarding the group chat with his silly pictures while in transit. Kang would then send complains about Kuan Hong's hair, his nose and his annoying face.

"LOL I just left the building, I hope I won't be late." Xize informed the others through the group. Dylan sent a meme in response to Xize's message, which garnered a curse from the boy.

"Where's Yue? Don't tell me she's still asleep LMAO." asked Kuan Hong. The others sent laughing stickers following Kuan Hong's message, but Dylan immediately typed.

"LOL she couldn't be late. Do you think she's asleep?" Dylan typed. He was already inside his car with his manager, on their way to the venue of the shoot in the busier parts of Shanghai.

"Dunno, until what time were you talking with her last night, bro?" asked Kang.

It was true that Shen Yue and Dylan stayed a little late last night to chat. At first, the three of them together with Kuan Hong was talking about ghost stories and urban legends they had heard. Afterwards, they noticed that Kuan Hong was no longer responding. They figured that he must have fallen asleep and told each other to go to bed too. But Dylan, as the naughty boy he was, interjected something that made Shen Yue freak out.

"Good night, Yue. Don't turn around, there might be someone standing over your bed right now."

Shen Yue sent a long voice clip that contained roughly of curses targeted to Dylan and how she couldn't turn around even if her arm was starting to hurt because she was afraid she'd see someone. This prompted the two of them to bicker for an extended hour in the middle of the night that ended only when Shen Yue no longer replied.

"I hope she wasn't eaten by the monster beneath her bed. LOL." Dylan replied. He checked Shen Yue's profile and saw that she was online six hours ago.

"Who's got her number? You should probably call her. I'm gonna go get breakfast." replied Xize before going offline.

"I'll call her." responded Kuan Hong to the chat.

After a few minutes, Kuan Hong said that he couldn't get through her phone.

So Dylan took it upon himself and called Shen Yue's number. At first he couldn't get through, but after a few attempts, he finally got a ring.

Shen Yue answered after a few rings. He heard rustling, a thud and a soft groan.

"Ouch." said Shen Yue's distant voice, somewhere beyond the line. Dylan's brows scrunched.

"Hello, Yue?" Dylan called. "Hello? What's up? What's happening, are you alright?"

It took a few seconds before Yue responded. This time Dylan knew that she had her phone in hand. "Yah, Di? Oh my god, what time is it?" she demanded, this time with a clear voice.

"Don't tell me you just woke up?!" said Dylan incredulously.

"Ugh, what the hell. This is your fault, Di. I swear." Shen Yue cursed, groaning in the process. "What?! It's already seven?! Oh god, oh god. I gotta go Di. I'm screwed."

And with that, Shen Yue ended the call. Smiling, Dylan created a voice message to the group chat.

"Sleeping beauty's awake now." Dylan laughed, reporting to the other three.

Sleeping beauty was a mess when she got to the venue.

Dylan noted that her hair was up but dripping wet. She had zero make up on, but her cheeks were flushed. She was in a loose pink pullover and pants, and she was out of breath.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm late." She said, bowing madly. "I slept in, I'm so sorry I wouldn't do it again."

"Hey, Yue. It's okay. You're not even that late." said the head coordinator of the shoot. "Have you eaten yet? Go eat something first, they're serving breakfast."

Shen Yue plopped down between Xize and Dylan, catching her breath. She was sweating profusely and her cheeks were even more crimson than a while ago.

"Oh my god." she groaned, fanning herself. She pulled her hair tie, making her hair glide above her shoulders. It was still very wet, and Dylan had no other choice but to observe Shen Yue pushing strands of hair away from her face.

"Why don't you tie it again so it wouldn't get in the way?" Dylan suggested.

Shen Yue turned her head sharply, and Dylan was met with a very indignant glare from the girl. She pulled her fist up, then started hitting him. Dylan backed and held up his arms in defense.

"This is your fault, dummy!" Shen Yue yelled, hitting him softly on the arm. "You shouldn't have said that!"

"Hey, it was a joke!" Dylan defended. "It wasn't my fault you're scared!"

"Then don't do it again next time, you big bully!" Shen Yue pinched his side. Dylan screeched in pain.

"Hey that hurt!" Dylan yelled. He pushed Shen Yue's shoulders, causing her to fall back on the couch.

Shen Yue was about to stand and pounce on Dylan when Xize called. "Hey, hey, idiots. Could you stop that? I'm gonna get a headache watching you two fight." Xize stood up, stretching. "I'm gonna walk around, any of you coming?"

"I'll go." said Kuan Hong. He stood up and rustled Shen Yue's hair, but jokingly snatched his hand back in disgust. "You have got to blow that dry, little sister."

"Yeah, yeah." Shen Yue mocked. She sat down beside Dylan, arms crossed. She pushed his arm and started making silly faces at Dylan.

"Eat your breakfast first, you guys." Kang said, walking past them. "I'm gonna start preparing." and he left the two of them to make funny faces at each other.

Dylan wasn't about to give up the funny faces war she had started. He pulled on both his eyelids and flipped them so the inside was showing. Shen Yue laughed derisively.

"You look like a demon! Oh my god, you can do that? I can't do that." she started to pull on her left eyelid, but her fingers got a little too excited and poked her eyes accidentally. "Ouch!" she yelped.

Dylan laughed loudly, clutching his stomach. "You dum-dum. Why did you poke your eye?!"

"It's not like I did it on purpose!" she said, rubbing her eyes until it was a little red. "I bet my eye's all red. I hate this day." she grumbled.

Dylan smiled, then he stood up and stretched his arms over his head. "Come, let's eat breakfast." he told Shen Yue. "Good breakfasts make great days.

Shen Yue laughed. "Who said that?"

"Me, of course." he said, winking at her.

She smiled and shook her head. Then she stood up, stretched her arms and punched his arm just for the sake of it. "Whatever, Didi. Let's go get breakfast and dry my ugly hair."

"Whatever you say, Yueyue."

Didi was instructed to prepare for the individual shoots after breakfast. He did five outfits in a different room while the others shot their individual shots in the other rooms. This amounted to four hours of non-stop camera clicks, outfit-changing and reflectors blinding him. By the time it was lunch, he was exhausted and hungry.

He bolted straight to the lunch buffet, hoping to eat his lunch very heartily, but saw that they were just setting up the food and utensils. Crestfallen, he turned around and started thinking hard if he had stashed food somewhere in his bag.

"Didi!" someone called from his back, he turned and saw Yueyue walking straight to him, clad in a white dress with flared sleeves. Her hair was up in a messy bun, and her usually straight fringe was in a beautiful disarray. The skirt of her dress billowed as she walked towards him, but most of all, she was holding a half-eaten pizza slice.

"Where did you get that?" Didi said, pointing at the pizza.

"This?" Yueyue took a bite, and Didi had to try hard not to stare. "Someone delivered it to my room, didn't you get yours?"

"No!" he said, annoyed that he didn't get to eat pizza.

"Do you want some?" Yueyue reached up, offering her pizza to Didi.

Didi looked straight at the pizza. He waited, then chomped a large bite to which Yueyue let out a loud gasp.

"Wow, Di. Are you hungry?" she laughed, then grabbed him by the arm. "Come, I think we still have pizza left in my room."

When Didi was happily holding two slices of pizza on both hands, he turned to Yueyue who was eating yet another pizza slice.

"Where are the others?" he asked, following the girl who was quickly walking out of the room after seeing him satisfied with the pizza.

"In Xize's room. They're shooting the couple shots with Jia Qi." she opened a door. Upbeat music was blaring pretty loud inside. "They want to eat lunch, so they sent me to see if they're done preparing yet."

Inside, Didi saw the others standing behind the photographer. They were all snickering mischievously at the two people in front. Xize was sitting on a stool, while Jia Qi was hugging his shoulders. Jia Qi was smiling at the camera, while Xize was looking at her, looking so happy with the ongoing matters.

He was suddenly reminded that he will do this with Shen Yue later. He took a glimpse at her, and saw that she was slightly laughing while looking at Jia Qi and Xize. She was holding a pizza on one hand, and the other was hovering near her mouth. She took another bite, then sucked her fingers for crumbs. Didi immediately looked the other way.

"Di!" Kuan called, noticing him. He approached them and took a playful jab at his shoulders. He seemed a little too happy from all the jeering. "It's gonna be you and Yueyue next." he moved his eyebrows suggestively.

But even before Didi could respond, Shen Yue interrupted. "Don't watch while we're shooting. I'm gonna ask them to shoo you away."

"You can't do that." Kankan interrupted, appearing over Kuan's shoulder. "You aren't the boss here."

Yueyue stuck out her tongue, then she turned towards Xize and Jia Qi. "Guys, I'm not laughing at you. So don't laugh at us later."

"I won't." said Jia Qi and Xize at the same time. Their eyes went wide, then Jia Qi pushed Xize's shoulder gently.

Didi, Kuan and Kangkang hooted and clapped.

True to her words, Yueyue was able to beg the coordinator to make their shoot a closed one. Kangkang and Xize were appalled that she was able to do it.

"Did some magic with your eyes again, didn't you? One day I'll poke that out." said Xize jokingly.

The only problem with a closed shoot was that, aside from the stylists and the photographer, they were the only ones there. The thought made Didi even more nervous than having the others in the background grinning cheekily.

Yueyue appeared to be calm, though. Her hair was still up, and she was wearing another white dress. But this time, it was a halter neck pleated dress with frills on the chest. She looked a little sleepy, but she was smiling and humming along to the sweet music playing in the background.

"Okay. Yue, Dylan, please stand side by side." the photographer asked them.

Didi stood beside her, showing off his smug smile to the camera.

"You guys look awkward." commented the photographer. The both of them erupted with laughter.

"It's an awkward stance!" Yueyue protested, laughing.

"Yeah, let's have us face to face then we won't be awkward." Didi said.

Yueyue looked up at him, then she made a silly face. Didi heard succeeding camera clicks.

"Well that looked weirdly good." said the photographer. "Just loosen up around each other, okay?"

Yueyue scoffed, then glared at Didi. She assumed her position beside Didi and slightly leaned her head on Didi's shoulder.

"I think we've loosen up around each other too much." she said, laughing.

Didi jerked his shoulders, causing Yueyue's head to bump on the sharp point of his shoulder. She yelped in pain, then clutched her temple. Didi started laughing.

"Didi! That hurt!" She slapped his arm.

"Very good you guys!" the photographer praised. "Now, please hold hands."

Didi lifted his left hand and offered it to Yueyue. She placed her hand on top of his palm and her fingers instantly clung to his.

Didi held her hand. They were both silent, but they were smiling from ear to ear. Didi pulled and played with her hand. He held it close to his chest one time, then pretended to bite it on another. This made Yueyue yelp and snatch her hand back. But Didi was quick to catch it again.

"Don't do that, Di!" Yueyue reprimanded. Didi just smiled and stuck out his tongue at her.

One of the stylists approached them to show other poses that they needed to do. There were pictures of couples pinching each other's' cheek, hugging each other, and linking their pinky fingers.

They did the pinky-finger-linking first. Didi carefully tugged on Yueyue's pinky finger, then he made a face at the girl.

Then they did the cheek-pinching next. Yueyue looked like she wasn't quite sure, and even squinted her eyes at Didi to warn him.

"Don't pinch too hard, Wang He Di." she said.

"It's not like I'd claw you." he laughed. He gingerly held his hand up to her cheek, looking straight to her eyes. He hesitated, then carefully grabbed a few folds of her skin.

It was surprisingly soft to touch. She was now looking towards the camera but Didi focused on his hand, careful not to move it a bit or he could hurt her.

The photographer also asked Yueyue to pinch his cheeks, to which she smiled evilly before carefully reaching up to pinch him.

"Ouch!" Didi yelped. She grabbed it too fast that she squeezed a little too hard. He let go of her cheek to nurse his own.

"Sorry, sorry!" Yueyue said, laughing a little. She tiptoed to see his face, then ran her thumb over his cheek. Didi felt himself shudder. "Does it hurt badly?" she asked, repeatedly caressing his cheek with her thumb.

"Nope." Didi said shortly, smiling at her. She smiled back.

"Briliiant! You look head-over-heels for each other." said the photographer. Yueyue suddenly withdrew her hand, and Dylan tried to laugh it off.

"Okay, last round. Can someone bring the chair please?"

One of the stylists nearby pushed a wooden stool chair. Didi tried to help by picking up the stool and placing it between him and Yueyue.

"Dylan, please sit on the stool. Then Yue will sit on your lap."

Didi stopped, looking at the photographer then to Yueyue. Her eyes were wide at first, then she shook her head slightly before looking at Didi.

"Whatcha waiting for, dummy? Sit down." She said laughingly, pointing at the stool.

Didi felt his ears heat up when Shen Yue carefully perched herself on his knees. She had her back on him and sitting too far away from his body. Didi wanted to say something, but one of the stylists beat him to it.

"Yue, sit closer to him! You look so awkward." the stylist laughed.

Yueyue was about to stand when Didi grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer to his body. "Didi!" she yelped, involuntarily lacing her arms around his neck for balance. She ended up huddled on his chest, eyes closed.

In a spur of emotions, Didi circled his arms around her waist. "Sorry, missy."

Shen Yue looked at him, then huffed. "Don't do that!" she punched his chest gently.

Didi just smiled, then guided her to sit closer to him. She was sitting adjacent to his body, so she was facing away from the camera. Didi placed his head on her shoulders.

"Don't think about anything else, missy. Just get yourself cozy." he whispered to her ear.

Shen Yue smiled slowly, then rubbed her nose to his cheek.

The last hour of their photoshoot was dedicated to a group shot wearing high school uniforms.

They took a lot of time changing because of Didi's hair. His hair had to be styled like the famous pineapple haircut, which took almost an hour to create.

"How long is that hair gonna take." Xize groaned. Xize, Kankan and Kuan were all situated in a couch inside Didi's makeshift dressing room.

They were already through with their individual shots, and just waiting for Didi to be done so they could proceed shooting the group photos. Only then they could call it a day.

"Sure Yueyue's about to finish her shoot. Your hair takes longer to fix than hers." Kuan commented.

Didi waved his hand. "Her hair is naturally straight and healthy. Mine's not. Stop complaining." he rolled his eyes, joking.

"You mean my hair is beautiful?" asked someone by the door. Didi looked in the mirror and saw Yueyue in a high school uniform, standing in the doorway. Her uniform matched theirs, dark gray jacket with a silver pin on their left lapels over white dress shirts. Only that she was wearing a brown plaid skirt. Their neckties don't match either. Didi's was red with white stripes like a candy cane. Yueyue's was orange and black plaid. Kuan had black and white geometric designs. Kankan had a white tie with red and blue stripes. And Xize with a blue tie with little white stripes.

"I mean your hair is dull." Didi replied to which Yueyue responded with a scowl.

Shen Yue started walking towards the other three. The boys unconsciously made way on the couch so she could sit. Yueyue plopped down between Xize and Kankan. "How long is that gonna take?"

"That's what we asked." said Kankan. "Hey, Yue. Have you seen the recent update to FWJ?"

Didi watched the other four talk about the mobile game they were all playing. Xize and Kuan even whipped their phones out to show the new heroes and characters from the game.

Didi looked at himself on the mirror. It's been forty five minutes since they started fixing his hair. He looked over to the other four, chatting happily on the couch. He sighed, wishing it would be over soon.

When he was finally done with his hair, all five of them immediately went to the room allotted for the shooting. They posed individually, then by groups. They sat on a table and instructed to look like they're star gazing.

Afterwards, they also took photos with the crew and today's photographers. Then they were ready to leave.

"I'm so sleepy." Shen Yue groaned. They were all inside Didi's makeshift dressing room, waiting for their road managers to pick them up.

Kankan, Kuan and Xize were all sitting on stools, huddled together and peering on Xize's phone as they played FWJ. Yueyue was laying on the couch, and Didi was sitting on the couch too, near her feet.

"Then sleep." Didi deadpanned. "There isn't a ghost watching over you now, anyway."

Yueyue kicked Didi's thigh, but then she made herself comfortable on the couch and closed her eyes. Didi waited for a few minutes, before standing up to get her a blanket. He was rummaging through his bag when a head popped on the door.

"Yueyue, come on now we're going home." Shen Yue's manager said.

Yueyue opened her eyes and stretched. Then she stood up to bid the boys goodbye. The next time they would meet would be in two days, the official start of their filming for Meteor Garden.

"Bye guys!" She waved at the other three as she retrieved her phone and bottled water from the couch. The other three said their goodbyes.

"Bye Didi." Yueyue punched his arm as she walked past.

"Bye, missy." he smiled, watching her walk out of the door.

Later that day, on his way home, Didi pulled out a blanket from his bag and draped it over his shoulders. Then he dozed off.


	3. Under the sheets

It has been a few weeks since Didi started filming the newest adaptation of Hana Yori Dango/Meteor Garden.

It was very hard at first, seeing as this was the first TV series he had to film. There was also a lot of pressure not only on his part but to all the members of the cast, since the first Meteor Garden was a phenomenon not only in its home country but in different parts of the world as well.

During the first few days, this pressure got the better of them. They filmed much less dramatic scenes, but they would usually do 10-15 takes to perfect a single cut. This resulted to a lot of delays and admonition from the directors and the executive producer Angie Chai herself. After the first week, Angie Chai gathered the five of them inside a singular tent to have the 'talk'. It included a lot of pep talk and the word 'brilliant'. But in the end, she hugged a crying Didi and Yueyue and told them something that warmed their hearts.

 _"It's okay, children. Take as much time as you need. We're not in a race. If you have to slow down, we will all understand. Do you know the first time I saw you guys together? I fell in love with all of you. I told myself that these kids are destined to be great. And greatness takes time. So don't worry about time, okay."_

After that, everything felt like hard-won peace.

Currently, they are filming the scenes for the 12th episode. His character, Daoming Si, had just gone back from London to inform Shancai about Tian Ye's background. Daoming Si ended up sleeping in Shancai's house for the night.

"Ugh, it's so cold!" Yueyue exclaimed, snuggling further into her long coat.

It's mid-December, and the weather is treating the whole crew harshly. No one anticipated that it's going to be an extremely cold winter in Shanghai this year. There were times that it was too cold that they had to stop filming altogether.

Didi wasn't a big fan of the winter himself. Although his body could easily acclimate, Shanghai's winter is different from Sichuan's. Back home in Chengdu, their winters would range from 11 to 5 degrees. 11 degrees Celsius would be enough to freeze Didi in his bed all day, and 5 degrees would send his mom to a flurry of checking and re-checking the radiator until she burns herself on it.

But what he did not expect was that Yueyue hated the cold more than he hates it himself. He knew that Yueyue grew up in Shaoyang, a city in Hunan province. Didi himself have been to Hunan every once in a while, and he can attest to the fact that their winters are far worse than Sichuan's. So it came as a shock that Shen Yue wasn't so used to the cold.

"Here, take my hot pack." Didi held out his new hot pack. They were currently inside Shancai's bedroom, waiting for all the crew to finish setting up.

It has been five weeks, but the whole ensemble of a production still amazes Didi. On the far left corner of the bedroom, a crew is fixing the alignment of cords and wires so people would not trip on it. Directly in front of him, two people are adjusting the panel lights adjacent to the main camera. Behind them, the director of photography is talking with the second cameraperson, gesturing the camera movements that she wants to achieve. And all over the room, people are hustling and bustling everywhere, cleaning up junk, aligning picture frames and checking on the smallest detail that could potentially affect the overall state of the scene.

It was a wonderful chaos in Didi's eyes. He have been to acting school for a year and joined a reality TV Show for a few months, but nothing beats the reality he'd come to face now. Every day, before filming starts, he would take a few serene moments to just look at all the people working together to ensure the beauty of the show. And this, above everything else, drives him to do well in his one job: play the role of this generation's Daoming Si.

"No thanks." Yueyue replied. She's wrapped in her coat, laying face flat on the bed.

Didi stared at her back for a second, still holding out the hot pack. He was quite unsure of what to do for a moment, then decided a second after to sit on the bed. He smiled, then placed the hot pack on the back of her head.

"Ya!!! Didi!" Yueyue flailed her hands to get the hot pack off her head. She tried to reach for it but failed mainly because of her bulky jacket. "Take it off, Di!" she shouted, suddenly twisting around the bed.

Didi was quick to snatch the hot pack. "Yeah, yeah."

Yueyue sat upright, then smacked his arm once, inducing a laugh from Didi. "My hair's gonna be a mess because of you." she frowned, touching the back of her head.

"Your hair is already a mess because your sleepyhead is hogging the bed!" Didi tapped the bed hard enough that Yueyue bounced slightly on the bed.

"You hair is also a mess because of that hairstyle." she laughed, sticking her tongue out to him.

Didi was about to retaliate when the director shouted that they were ready to take. He casted one last threatening look at her, punched her arm slightly, then proceeded to where the director had beckoned them.

The both of them received last minute instructions about the scene, then they were asked to take off their jackets to start the filming.

The cold struck Didi all at once. He was wearing a thin white shirt and sweat pants, and the house unfortunately did not have any heating system. Beside him, Yueyue is jumping up and down, trying to warm herself.

"You cold?" he whispered. Her clothes were slightly thicker than his, but he knew that Yueyue was easily cold.

Yueyue looked at him with wide eyes, then nodded gravely.

"Here." Didi extended his arm, and Yueyue instantly clung to it.

This has been a silent agreement between the two of them that formed over the first few weeks of filming. It was always biting cold especially in the evenings, and there were times that they couldn't focus on their lines because of the cold bothering them. Yueyue would often moan about it, but Didi didn't take it seriously until he observed the things she did when it was too cold. She would always forget her lines while rehearsing, and she would ask for a break every few minutes to shake her body. So he started accompanying her to her frequent exercises. They would run around if there was enough space, but often times they would play random games until one of them gets seriously ticked off.

Yueyue clung onto his bent arm, and Didi started to shake her off of her grip jokingly.

"Di…" Yueyue grunted, using both her arms to try and straighten his arm. "Gosh, you're freakishly strong." she lifted her head to face him, a bright smile plastered on her face.

Didi smiled back. "No, you are." he said mockingly.

"No, you are." she repeated, shaking his arm. Didi gently hurled her forward.

"No, you are." he said which made them both laugh.

"You both are." the director interrupted. "Hurry and get on the bed, you two."

The both of them went to separate beds. Yueyue went under the sheets of the bigger bed, while Didi laid on the much smaller bed beside hers.

They both laid on their beds quietly, waiting for the camerapersons to finish framing the scenes.

"Di." Yueyue called quite tentatively.

Didi quickly turned to face her. She was looking straight ahead, her hands placed neatly on top of her chest. Her eyes had a kind of glaze in them, the one he usually sees when she's busy daydreaming.

"What is it?" Didi questioned.

"What do you think of me?"

Didi's heart shot up to his throat. He looked at Yueyue like she'd grown another head, but she didn't notice his bizarre stare and just stared straight at the ceiling. _What was she thinking asking this all of a sudden? Was the cold driving her mad?_

But she just continued to space out peacefully. Her breaths were steady as her chest rhythmically went up and down. Didi focused on this instead, trying to calm his own breaths by looking at the hypnotic movement of her chest.

"Didi, did you hear me? I said, what do you think of me?" Yueyue repeated, this time looking at his face with eyes curved in a smile.

Didi stared at her face, inspecting the corners of her eyes down to the tip of her nose and the curve of her lips.

The truth was that, Didi found her excruciatingly intriguing. At first, he thought it was natural since she is his first onscreen partner. It was only right he would grow curious about her somehow. But as time flies, he realized it was not the case.

He curiously observed Shen Yue because she is simply intriguing. He couldn't quite understand the wonder that shrouds this woman. She was simultaneously rowdy and reserved. She always finds curious things to talk about. She sees things in a different light. And the charming look on her face when she smiles makes Didi uncomfortable on his feet.

After almost two months of knowing her, he only found her more and more unsettling by the day.

Didi wanted to tell her this. That she makes him feel uneasy in a good way. But in the last minute, his tongue failed him and his mind settled on the safest bet he could throw.

"What do you mean 'what I think of you'?" he murmured. His throat had gone scratchy that he had to cough a few times after.

She offered a teasing smile. "Dum-dum. I mean, what do you think of me? Am I a good actor?" she punched his arm.

 _Oh._

Didi smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. He gulped, then gathered his thoughts to answer her question. "Uhm, I think you're good."

"That's it?" Yueyue demanded, frowning at him.

Didi was at a loss for words. She was clearly disappointed with his answer, so he racked his brain for more.

"Uhm. No, of course. You're good. You can cry on cue." he ventured, knowing he was starting to ramble. "And your expressions are also great. Your eyes are very expressive and quite charming. And your smile is beautiful too."

It was too late before Didi realized what he just said. Yueyue's knowing smile faded, and in its stead are two wide eyes and cheeks rapidly growing red. He saw her gulp, before clearing her throat and averting her gaze. She took a deep breath and fixed her eyes on the ceiling again.

"What the heck, Di. You really know how to pull my leg." she rolled her eyes. Her cheeks were still red, but her voice was steady.

"But it's true." Didi's right eyebrow shot up. He raised his body to look at her properly, propping himself up with his arm.

Yueyue just shook her head and pulled a silly face.

"It's true." he said, blowing a breath on her face, which made her fringe all messed up. He chuckled slightly then proceeded to blow another breath on her face.

"Didi…" she reprimanded. She would look away when he blows a breath on her face, but tries to look at him again when he's not.

"What?" Didi smiled, then blew another breath.

"Stooooop." She held out her palm to shove his face.

He caught her hand just in time. His fingers tentatively grazed her palm before clenching his hand to hold hers properly.

Yueyue did not protest.

He went back to his pillow and stared at the ceiling. All around the room, the crew were busy doing the final touches for the scene. People were shouting outside, panel lights blinked and poles were held upright. But under the thick sheets in this cold winter night, Yueyue and Didi's hands grew more familiar with each other. Didi let out a sigh.

[Pardon my messy writing style and errors. English is not my native language, hehe. But I'll try better. Please kindly point out any mistakes. Thanks for reading this far into the story. All for DiYue!]


	4. Good Morning

[DiYue/DyShen FAN FICTION: Continuation of Sugar Rush]

Didi was lounging on his chair when the news broke out.

It was a cold afternoon in Shanghai, and they were shooting inside a five-star-hotel for the cooking competition arc.

Didi sort of had a premonition, if he was to be honest. He woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, and he was feeling a little jumpy after lunch, and the unshakable feeling of uneasiness bugged him all afternoon.

In retrospect, Didi didn't exactly knew how he got into the situation. The only thing clear to him was that when a crew yelled, "Yue fainted! Hurry! Take her to the clinic!" he jumped out of the chair and ran in sonic-speed.

Everything else was a blur afterwards.

The next thing he knew, he was in her hotel room, looking at her pallid cold face.

"Yueyue…" he called.

Yueyue's road manager was on the phone behind him, talking to someone and telling them to hurry. He partly suspected that she was calling a doctor, seeing as she was also asking the person on the other line about first-aid and medicine. Yueyue's assistant was also there. She looked grim and tight-lipped, and she was fussing on Yueyue's clothes and hair, loosening her buttons to 'let the air out' and pushing away strands of her fringe off her face.

Angie Chai was also present in the scene. She was sitting on her other side, holding her hand and asking an asleep Yueyue to point wherever it hurts.

"Does your head hurt, sweetheart?" She asked, touching her forehead. "That fever won't come down. You have a really bad cold too."

Yueyue's eyes was sewn shut. But it was apparent that she had fallen into a restless sleep. Her breaths were unsteady and shaky. Her head and neck was drenched in sweat, and she was shivering even though she was wrapped in a coat under a blanket.

Didi's head throbbed just by looking at her. He was standing awkwardly beside her bed, directly behind Angie, at a loss of what to do.

"Her sweat is quite cold." Yueyue's assistant whispered to the both of them. "Her fever is not breaking. I think it's best we undress her and give her a sponge bath."

Angie nodded. "Yes. And the doctor is on the way, right Aina?" she asked Yueyue's road manager.

Aina finished the call and turned to them with tired eyes. "Yes, mam. The doctor's on her way. She advised us to give her a sponge bath to help her temp go down. We also need to keep her hydrated." she leaned down to touch Yueyue's forehead. "Yueyue, do you want me to call your mom?"

It was the first time Yueyue responded to them since Didi came. She moaned and muttered incoherently, then shifted on the bed.

"Let's give her a sponge bath first." Angie stood up. She turned around and saw Didi, jumping back in shock. "Di! What are you doing here?! Don't you have scenes to shoot?" she grabbed Didi by the arm, taking him two strides away from Yue's bed.

Didi looked at his producer, unsure what to say. "Uhm." he started. He really has one or two more scenes to shoot, but he needed to know what happened to Yueyue. He took a fleeting glance at her sleeping form, and let out a breath. She looked so exhausted and miserable. Last night before they left the set, Yueyue was already complaining to him about a headache. Didi did not mind it, and just went on to poke her face and hair even if she was clearly out of it. Yueyue also didn't go online the whole day, and Didi had an earlier call time so he didn't have time to see her in the morning.

He faced Angie with an uncertain smile. He doesn't know what to say. He just thinks he needs to see Yueyue now that she's sick.

Angie took one look at him, then sighed resignation. "Fine. Go to the director first and ask if you can shoot your scenes quickly. Shoot them all first, Di. Then you can go see her all you want."

Didi sighed relief, then nodded at her. "Thanks, Angie jie." he turned around and walked to the door.

Didi carefully closed the door behind him, before breaking into a run.

Didi finished all his remaining scenes for the day in less than two hours.

The director was even praising him, telling people that they should start calling him one-take-Didi. He bowed bashfully at them, muttering 'you did a good job' to everyone before leaving the scene.

Didi did not waste time and went to Yueyue's room immediately. When he got there, he could already hear Kuan and Kankan's loud voices from a hall away.

"See, you can finish the soup, little sister." Kuan's cool and gentle voice echoed.

The room to her door was left ajar. Didi walked slowly to it and peered inside.

Yueyue looked much better now, sitting upright on the bed with two pillows behind her back. Her face still looked tired and her eyes puffy, but she was now awake and smiling. Sitting on her foot was Kankan. He was holding a tray on his lap containing a glass of milk and fruit slices. Beside her is Kuan, holding a bowl of what Didi suspected as the soup she just finished.

"You made us worry, Yueyue." said Kankan, reaching up to tousle her hair.

"I'm okay now. I promise. It was just too cold a while ago and I was really tired." said Yueyue, trying for a perky tone. But it was still quite apparent to her voice that she was sick. Her nose was stuffy, and her voice coarse. "But thank you guys for taking care of me. I really appreciate it." she smiled at the two other boys.

Didi looked down to his feet. He felt weirdly awkward, standing right there and eavesdropping. He felt unsure of what to do next, but he ultimately decided to walk further in, announcing his presence to the other three.

"Yow." he said, holding the knob of the door, going halfway in. The two boys immediately called for him, asking him to sit down on the bed.

"Di! Yueyue just finished her food." Kuan reported. "We almost had to force feed her though."

The other three laughed. Didi stood awkwardly beside Yueyue's bed.

"I bet if I'm not sick, you would definitely force-feed me." Yueyue stuck out her tongue.

"That's not true." said Kankan gently, "Because we would still force-feed you even if you're sick."

The other three laughed again. Didi just smiled and scratched his nape.

"Xize just left a while ago, Di. He also came to visit Yueyue." Kuan informed him, looking at him with an unreadable expression. "Where have you been?"

"I finished all my scenes and…" he trailed off.

"Oh yes, our one-take-Didi." Kankan smiled at him, punching his arm slightly.

"And?" Kuan urged, tilting his head at him.

"S'nothing, bro." Didi took a deep breath and looked at Yueyue. She was busy munching on the fruit slices, clearly not paying attention to the three of them. "Hey, missy. You okay?"

Yueyue looked up at him with her puffy eyes. She was still a bit pale and her face sallow, but he knew she still tried to look as upbeat as possible. "Yeaaah!" she dragged the word, then stuffed her mouth with two grapes.

Didi can't help but chuckle and flick her forehead.

"Ouch Didi! That hurt!" she covered her forehead with one palm, and pushed Didi's hand with another.

"Aiyo, can you two stop fighting. Di, she's sick. You can fight her all you want when she gets better." Kuan reprimanded.

Yueyue nodded at Kuan, hiding behind Kuan's back and beaming at Didi in victory.

But Didi just straightened his stance and sighed. "I won't bother you guys any more. I still have to talk to Angie-jie about something." he had already walked to the door before the other three could react. "Bye!"

Didi shut the door behind him, leaving the other three with confusion written all over their faces.

Didi stayed in his room the whole night.

He tried to sleep on the bed, but his stylists and make-up artists were all busy walking around the room. So he lounged on the terrace for a while, smoked half a pack of cigarettes, took a bath, and played some mobile game while waiting for his manager to take him to late dinner.

He was busy killing his opponents in the mobile game when the door to his room creaked open. It was 10 in the evening, and everyone in his team had gone out to get something or talk to someone. He was sitting on an armchair beside the bed, directly in line of sight from the door. But since he turned the lights low in the room, darkness masked the face of the person who just peered.

"Yu Ren?" he called, thinking it was his manager.

But the head did not respond. Instead, the head, followed by its body, slowly walked in, still veiled in the dark. It only took a few seconds for Didi's pupils to dilate and his heart to slam in his ribcage.

The dark figure moved slowly. It appeared to be hooded and short, and it was taking small, light steps towards his direction.

" _What_ are you?!" Didi stood up, dropping his phone on the floor. He looked wildly around the room in search of an object that he could wield, but he saw nothing.

The figure was close to the bed now. Panic and desperation took over Didi's mind. In his last resort, he quickly went behind the armchair.

 _Fucking hell. I don't wanna die tonight._

"Don't come any closer!" he shouted, terror evident in his voice. " _Help!_ "

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA."

The hooded figure stopped dead on its tracks, clapping and heaving in laughter.

"Oh, Didi!" The hooded figure collapsed face first on the bed. By the looks of it, the hooded figure appeared to be a person. It was wearing a grey hoodie and tight jeans, and it sounded like it was about to die from laughter.

The person looked up, wide round eyes brimming with tears and red nose with snot. It was Yueyue, and she wasn't nearly through with laughing.

"Yueyue!?" Didi held his chest and shook his head. His heart was still beating like crazy and his ears were buzzing from horror. His head was also swimming with thousand sinister thoughts, and his body was slightly shaking.

"Were you scared?" Yueyue laughed at him.

Didi cleared his throat before taking a seat. He was a little shaken, but he was also calming down a lot. _I thought I was going to die!_

"Aww, our baby Didi was scared." Yueyue cooed at him, reaching up both hands to pretend like she was pinching his cheeks.

Didi just glared at her. "What are you doing here, miss. Aren't you sick?"

She wiped her nose with the cuff of her sleeve before answering. "Nah, I'm okay." She got up from the bed, then walked around to sit directly in front of him. "Besides, a lot of people took care of me."

He smiled at her. It really seems like everybody wants to take care of Yueyue. But Didi knew that she doesn't want to be taken care of. Yueyue is a giver, not a taker.

"Yeah, a lot of people took care of you." he smiled at her before reaching down to get his phone off the floor. He checked the screen first for important notifications, before looking back at Yueyue.

"Did you finish all your scenes?" he asked.

Yueyue shook her head. "Angie jie told me to rest first. I will shoot the remainder of my scenes next week." she paused, then looked at Didi with a curious look. "Di…"

"Hm?"

"Are you alright?" she asked in a soft voice. It was just three words uttered so guilelessly, but Didi felt so comforted. Yueyue looked at him with an expression he hadn't seen before. It was a look that offered something more than concern; it was a look that promised solace.

"Come here." Didi tapped the space beside him.

Yueyue didn't even think twice, she got up with a smile on her face and settled herself beside him. Then she bumped her shoulder to his. "Aren't you gonna say anything?" she inquired.

When Didi smiled, he felt a beat of happiness resounding inside his chest. It drummed slowly inside him, spreading warmth in its wake. He didn't even notice he had been gloomy the whole day until this very moment, when he was finally happy again.

"You're the one who's sick, but you're asking me if I'm alright." he chuckled slightly, grabbing tufts of her hair. "Has your fever gone down?" he touched her forehead and neck to see if she was abnormally hot.

"I'm okay, Didi. But are you?" she looked at him in the eye when she said the last sentence. Her insistence that something was wrong with him made her look cute in Didi's eyes.

"I am now." he said in a sing-sung voice. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

"Okay." she smiled, then grabbed Didi's phone from his lap. Yueyue held the phone up to register her Face ID, opening his phone in a heartbeat.

Didi jumped back in shock.

"What the heck?!" Didi snatched the phone from her in surprise. "When did you register that?!" he demanded, holding the phone up and away from her reach.

"Last week! When you weren't looking!" Yueyue laughed. She got up and wrestled him for the phone. "Give it to me, Di. I'm sick. Don't mess with me."

"Hell nah." He dodged her arms, then cradled the phone to his chest. "Yueyue! Stop! You can't see my phone!"

"Why not?!" she smiled evilly. "What are you hiding in there, you filthy crook?"

"Nothing! I'm not hiding anything here." he said calmly. Yueyue was using all her weight to pry his hands open. "Hey hey, bud. You better stop or that fever of yours will go back."

"Give me the phone!"

"Okay! Okay!" he yelled, exasperated. Yueyue happily went back to her space beside Didi and held out her hand for his phone.

"Tch." Didi glared at her, gingerly placing his phone on her hand.

Yueyue made herself busy with his phone at once.

When the door clicked open, Didi found himself circling his arms around Yueyue's shoulder protectively. He looked up to see whatever thing made the door creak open, but when he saw his manager, he quickly sighed in relief.

Yu Ren ran her eyes inside the room. When Didi caught her eyes, he muttered a silent "not now," before quietly pointing at Yueyue who's still busy playing with his phone.

Yu Ren nodded knowingly, and quietly retreated.

Somewhere along the way, they both fell asleep and woke up on the chair. When he opened his eyes, Yueyue was still clutching his phone close to her. Her head had made a pillow out of his chest, and her legs were entangled to his.

Didi smiled a little.

He waited for her to wake up, and when she finally did, it was already 1 in the morning.

She stretched beside him like a cat, curling and uncurling her arms and body. Then she looked at him with sleepy eyes.

"Good morning." she said with a smile.


	5. Crush

Didi wasn't quite sure what is happening.

He woke up just fine this morning. Although short of sleep, he was energized to film his scenes for the day. He met with Xize and Kankan for breakfast, sipped some exceptionally good iced coffee from the bar, and went off to tape his morning scenes.

Then things started to get weird.

He couldn't point out the exact time it got weird. But his routine started to change when Yu Yan, one of his best friends, came to visit. She rang him to say that she was coming in less than three hours. She has always been this spontaneous, and it was one of the things that Didi liked about her.

"Director, do I have more scenes after lunch?" Didi asked the director. They were currently filming scenes for episode 13 and 14, and almost all of them had to be inside the studio.

"You'll have just two more scenes with Yueyue for tonight." the director responded. "Why, do you have to go somewhere?"

"Where are you going?!"

"Jesus Christ, Shen Yue!" he cursed a laughing Yueyue. She had appeared out of nowhere from Didi's side, causing him to go a little off balance.

"You're getting easier to prank nowadays, Didi." she laughed, slapping his shoulders.

"Oh really?" he bared his teeth. "You'll pee your pants if I prank you, missy." he stepped forward, threatening to hit her.

Yueyue's hand shot up in the air to threaten him back. "Let's see." she smirked, looking at him from head to toe.

"Whatever." Didi flicked her forehead.

Yueyue winced and hit his arm. "That hurt, dumdum!" she rubbed her forehead, kicking his shins lightly.

"Serves you right, little prankster."

Yueyue pouted.

"So, where are you going?" they sat on one of the couch in the set-up Daoming Mansion. "D'yah have a date today?" her tone was very lively, but Didi saw a frown cross her face when she said it.

"I actually do have one. Yu Yan is coming this afternoon." Didi fished for his phone to see if Yu Yan called, but there were still no signs of her since she told Didi that she'll come this afternoon.

"Who's… Yu Yan?"

Didi looked at her. She hadn't spoke for a very long time that he thought she had already left.

"Uhm, Yu Yan is my best friend." Didi said in a monotone.

"Best friend?" Yueyue's round eyes receded to a squint. "Why?" Didi thought her tone bordered on shock and disappointment.

"What do you mean 'why'?" Didi chuckled, bopping her nose with his index finger. "I dunno why she's my best friend, Yueyue. She just is."

"Oh." Yueyue frowned.

Didi bowed his head to look at her face. Her eyes were fixed on her hands, but her lips were puckered sideways in a lopsided pout. Didi couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking.

"What's with that face?"

"None of your business."

"Woah woah, missy. What's with the tone?" he slightly punched her shoulders, but she glared at him and clucked her tongue. "What?"

"Don't touch me." Yueyue chased his hand away.

But instead of finding her annoying, Didi thought she was rather cute. "What's the matter, missy?" he pinched her cheek. This earned him a kick and a punch.

"Alright. Alright. But tell me first, what's the problem?"

"There isn't any problem!" she rolled her eyes.

Just when Didi was about to answer, his phone vibrated in his hand. It was Yu Yan, and she's already outside of the studio. "Oops, Yu Yan's here." he looked at Yueyue who had her arms folded up her chest, looking the other way. "I'm gonna introduce you to her, okay?"

Yueyue looked at him like he just slapped her across the face.

But Didi didn't have time to think. His phone was beeping madly in his hand. And his best friend would surely beat him to death if he didn't come out now.

In a rush, he tousled Yueyue's hair, and ran for the door.

This is where things started to get even stranger.

He knew Yu Yan since he was a child. She lived around the neighborhood and she owned a very loud electric guitar. She was very kind to Didi at first, but when she found out that Didi liked a singer she didn't, she made it a point to tease him about it. And that's how their friendship started.

Yu Yan hugged Didi when he saw her standing outside the studio. For a minute, Didi was reminded of his old house in Chengdu, his old friends, and how different it is from his life now. It was a life that included a lot of video games and his mom's rice porridge. It was a life he still wished he had, but right now, he was more than content that he had lived it, even just for a while.

"Silly human!" Yu Yan pulled away from the hug and punched his temple. Didi winced. "I was standing here in the cold and you wouldn't pick up your phone!"

Yu Yan has this kind of habit of calling other people 'human' like she was not one. It's unsettling and ridiculous to Didi at the same time.

"I was talking to someone!" Then he spotted a huge lunch box in her hand. "What's that? Did Ma told you to bring those?"

"Oh right!" Yu Yan lurched the lunch box to his stomach. Didi caught it just in time, but the impact made him curl a little. "Yes, Auntie said she wants – what's the girl's name? your lead? – she wants her to try some."

Didi smiled. His mother is a sweet but firm woman. And she makes the best food in the world. "Great! I'm gonna heat this up for her. Come in, come in."

Didi introduced Yu Yan to everyone they would pass by. Xize and Kuan got particularly excited about the food, so they both tailed them as they went to Didi's dressing room.

"So, your mum wanted us to try her cooking? She's so kind!" Xize told him.

"It's for Shen Yue, not you, human." Yu Yan said blankly. Didi saw Xize stop in his tracks in utter shock, and Kuan stared at Yu Yan's back in awe.

"Have you guys seen Yueyue?" he quickly diverted the topic, saving both Xize and Yu Yan from the embarrassment.

"We haven't actually." Kuan said. "The director said she was with you, though?"

Didi and Yu Yan passed the part of the studio where he left Yueyue a while ago, but she wasn't there. _Where could this girl be? My mom cooked so much for her._

They arrived at the dressing room with more audience. Kankan and Jia offered to reheat the food, then all of them flocked over it.

"Bro, let go of the spoon!" he slapped Kuan's hand.

"There are a lot left, Di! Yueyue will never run out of these dumplings!" Kuan pushed him away.

"I think I saw Yueyue a while ago. She was running to the direction of her room." Jia ate the dumpling in one bite.

"Auntie specifically asked me to let her try some. She even wants me to report her reaction." Yu Yan told Didi.

He sighed. "Wait here one second, I'm gonna find her."

"Find who?"

When Yueyue entered the room, Didi felt stranger. Her eyes were set straight ahead, and her chin was up in a lofty manner. She looked so proud and ruthless, like she had just successfully orbited Saturn with just a magic carpet. For a moment, Yueyue looked like someone he only saw after the camera starts rolling. He saw Daoming Si's Dong Shancai, and for a fleeting second, he thought she could be _his_ Shancai.

"You." his mouth was quicker than his brain.

"Hmm?" Yueyue squinted at his direction, like she vaguely heard him but chose not to address him. "Oh, what's happening?" she went straight to Jia.

"Yu Yan here brought back some of Didi's mum's dumplings!"

Yueyue looked their way and gave Yu Yan a small smile. But for some odd reason, Didi felt like she was looking at her but not _at_ him. Which was impossible because he was sitting close to Yu Yan. But Didi might as well be a ghost in her eyes. If she had noticed him, she showed no signs. Like her peripheral vision wouldn't work if she willed it not to.

"Oh really? Thank you, Yu Yan." Yueyue sounded so stiff that Didi needed a few seconds to think what had warranted this cold demeanor from her.

But if Yueyue was cold, Yu Yan was colder. "You're welcome." she had her 'resting bitch' face on, a face Didi was all too familiar with.

So when Yu Yan opened her mouth to say something, he immediately looked at her to signal her to stop whatever she was about to say. He knew Yu Yan all his life, and she is one of the most straightforward people he knew. Her mouth is a gun, and she has a knack for shaping words into ammunitions.

But what Yu Yan said next threw him off the course.

"I think I like you."

Everyone stopped eating, including Xize. They all figured at the same time that something was weird about this exchange.

But Yueyue wasn't even fazed. They both smiled sweetly at each other, and if they were faking it, Didi saw zero signs.

"I think I like you too." Yueyue smirked, but something in this unsettled Didi. He had always liked it when Yueyue smiles, he thinks it's one of the warmest things he had ever seen. But not this one. He never thought he would ever pray for someone to stop smiling.

"You should really try the dumplings."

"I will."

Jia wordlessly gave Yueyue her chopsticks and slid out of her way. Now that everyone had stopped eating, Yueyue easily got a dumpling to eat. She chewed slowly, and Didi wiped beads of sweat on his forehead.

Then she said finally, "They're actually very good." for the first time since she came into the room, Didi saw the old Yueyue again. She smiled as she took another dumpling, and she motioned for everyone to continue eating.

And so they did.

"I'll tell Auntie she liked it." Yu Yan whispered, standing from her chair. "Bye Didi."

Didi stood up and hugged her. "Bye, Yanyan."

Then Didi heard chopsticks slamming on the table. Yu Yan laughed and let go of the hug.

"See me outside, Di."

Didi talked to Yu Yan about Chengdu on their way out. She told him briefly about what their friends have been up to back home, and things his parents wanted to tell him.

"I'll get going now, Di. Byebye!" her car's window was rolled down, but before she drove off, she told him, "Oh, and Di. I think you should know. She likes you, alright."

 _That can't be._ Didi whispered to himself as he walked back inside.

This day couldn't get any stranger.

Yu Yan's words rang inside Didi's head as he made his way back to the studio.

" _She likes you, alright."_

Hearing it from another living breathing person, instead of inside his own head, made everything even more damning.

It _was_ just a crush.

And he let it happen. Didi knew he wasn't that dumb. He could be a little unpredictable at times, but he wasn't a stranger to his own emotions. He knew from the start, just at the back of his head, that Shen Yue left a little more than a first impression to him.

She was nothing he ever imagined. Far from what he conjured up while watching sappy romance movies with his friends. But there she was, the tiny girl, beguiling him with nothing but her whole being.

It was more of a matter of ' _them'_ instead of ' _her'_ alone. Didi didn't have to prove that Yueyue is a very beautiful person. But that alone didn't make her special to him. She is special because she is a part of _'them'_ , because she is a friend to him.

They listen to each other's silly little stories not because they had to, but because they want to. They seek each other out if they discover something cool in set because they don't want the other one to miss out. They play around like maniacs and keep each other busy because they genuinely enjoy each other's company.

Didi likes the _"them"_ more than anything else. And whatever it is that is "them", Didi allowed it to happen. And he would like it to happen some more.

"Hey Di."

He was woken up from his reverie by Kuan's voice. He didn't even know he reached his own dressing room. "Huh?"

"Are you and Yueyue fighting? She stormed out after you left with Yu Yan." Kankan said.

"No we're not."

"Then what's up with that?" Jia inquired. She was leaning on Xize's shoulder, fiddling with her phone. Didi arched a brow at her.

"With what?"

"Jesus. Don't play dumb."

Didi sighed. This day is the strangest of them all. One minute he was more than happy. Yu Yan came to visit and even gave him an early birthday greeting. Everything was going well. Until he was forced to face the possibility that the girl has a crush on might feel the same way for him.

"I don't know. I'll talk to her, alright."

"You better. You're shooting that little bed scene later, right?" Xize said.

Didi glared at all of them as he left the dressing room. He just has to find Yueyue and… and then what? Tell her the way he feels? Grit his teeth and wait for her reply? He… Yueyue liking him back would just make everything worse.

He was fine with his silly little crush. He was alright with holding her hand as her Daoming Si. He was willing to wait until this ends. He was willing to wait for his feelings to subside, no matter how long it would take. But if Yueyue likes him back and she wanted them to work it out, then he would have to. He would be more than glad to fight with her. But he can't do that. Not now.

"Ouch!"

Didi wasn't even aware that he had ran into someone. The person's head bounced off his chest, making them go off balance. Didi caught their arm just in time.

"Sorry, sorry." Didi said hurriedly.

The person was Yueyue, and she was was rubbing her forehead while glaring at him. He felt the tips of his lips arch involuntarily.

"That hurt!" she punched his chest.

"Really?" his hand was on her head in a second. He grazed his thumb over her forehead, but she slapped it away.

"Stop, Di."

"Why are we fighting?" he ventured.

She tried to keep a straight face. But Didi knew from the way her brows knit that she was frustrated and stressed. Yueyue sighed, then proceeded to run her tongue on her lower lip.

"We're not. We're not fighting." her teeth caught a teensy bit of her lower lip. Didi stared as she slowly bit and sucked on it.

"You sure we aren't?" he chuckled. His hand found its way to her chin. His thumb cajoled her chin, gently pulling her lower lip free.

"We are not!" her wide eyes suggested that he was in deep distress and annoyance. Didi grinned.

"Then why are you yelling?"

"Ugh! Didi! Stop annoying me!" she pushed him and stomped her left foot.

He laughed, then gathered her to his arms. "Okay. Whatever you say, missy. But I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

He was sorry for a lot of things. He was sorry he couldn't figure out what to do next. He was sorry he doesn't want to stop liking her. He was sorry because a little part of him wants her to like him back.

"Nothing." he felt her pushing herself away from the hug, but he just pulled her closer. "And I wanted to tell you that you're my best friend."

"I am?"

"Yeah. Whatever happens, you are one of the best friends I've ever had."

"Now you see, Didi. That's wrong use of words right there." she completely got out of the hug. "In your sentence, the word 'best' is a modifier of the word 'friend'. So that means I am your friend, but I'm one of the best you've had. Whereas if you say I am your best friend, the noun, then it's gonna mean a whole different thing." She was waving her hands in the air as she talked. "This confuses me."

He scratched his head. "Why do you have to be so smart? I mean both, Yueyue. Whatever."

"You can't mean both?!"

"Why not?"

Yueyue paused for a second, staring at him, clearly in a limbo. Then she blurted out, "I dunno. You just don't."

Didi grimaced. He was done with the conversation, but Yueyue was whispering to herself in contemplation like she was making out why 1 + 1 = 3.

"Come on, linguist. Quit it, we have scenes to take."

He took her hand, and pulled her away from the hallway.


	6. Sweet Nothings

"Didi."

"Hmm?"

"Am I really your best friend?"

"Yes you are."

"Hmm-mm."

"Do you like being my best friend?"

"Yes."

"Then am I your best friend?"

"Maaaaaaybeeee."

"What the fuck?"

"What the fuck!"

"Hey!"

"Jude!"

"HAHAHAHA."

"Didi?"

"Yueyue?"

"Thank you."

"Thank you too."

"… for what?"

"For the same reasons you're thankful to me."


	7. I'm Coming Back For You

Sugar Rush 6

Didi finally figured out why Yueyue was acting weird yesterday.

He kind of had an inkling as to why she was grumpy yesterday when Yu Yan, his best friend, came to visit. But everything was made clear to him when he found out that a co-star of Yueyue from A Love So Beautiful would come and visit her today.

Turns out she was jealous towards Yu Yan.

And the infuriating part was that, it's now his turn to be jealous.

"Dude. You okay?" Xize clapped his back. Didi just looked at him.

He was sitting on a director's chair not five meters away from Yueyue's tent. The sun is currently out, but Didi felt like the cold air freezes the sunrays before they even land on earth's surface.

"Di, you haven't said anything in an hour. The heck happened?" Kankan grimaced, bowing down to look at him directly.

"What's his name again?" he inquired gently. He saw the others looking amongst themselves with amused expressions.

"Sun Ning."

"When's he leaving?"

"How would we know?"

Didi sighed and fiddled with his hands. He just wants this day to be over so bad. But it's just 11 in the morning and he doesn't know when this Sun Ning is leaving so he could be with Yueyue again.

"Come on, man. Let's go to lunch." Xize said.

"I think I should go with Yueyue today."

A long silence followed this pronouncement.

"Just go with us, man. It's not like it won't be any more delicious if you're with her." Kankan blurted.

"I don't see what is the matter here. Why don't you just go to Yueyue?" Xize said.

"Because, it's not proper. The guy's only here for a day. Of course Di has to know better that she would dedicate this day for him. Besides, even if he does that, Yueyue will just shoo him away." Kuan commented. Using his foot, he stealthily moved the heater towards his direction.

"Since when did he ever care about what's proper or not?" Xize asked Kuan.

Didi heard a shriek.

It was Yueyue, and her arm was around Sun Ning's shoulder as they waved in front of an iPad.

"Screw it." He shot up from his seat and strode straight to the tent's direction.

"Didi, no!" Kuan caught the hem of his jacket. "You're gonna embarrass yourself."

"I don't care." he sighed, exasperated. "Come on man, let me go." he pulled his jacket off his hands.

Didi knew he was acting up so bad. But his current disposition doesn't allow him any other option. He needs to express himself or he would implode.

His head was swimming with terrible thoughts and dejection when he reached Yueyue's tent. Sun Ning and Yueyue were done talking with someone on the iPad, but they weren't done talking to each other.

"Yeah, I researched a good ramen place here. Do you want to try it?"

"Look at you. You really missed me, huh? Researching a place for us to eat." Yueyue smiled at the guy.

Didi announced his presence by tugging at Yueyue's shirt. Both Sun Ning and Yueyue looked at him.

"Di!" she said, a little surprised. "What's up?"

Didi wasn't sure what to do next. He kind of wished he listened to Kuan a while ago and chilled out. But he was nowhere near _chill_.

"Didi. What is it?"

"Let's have lunch." he bit his lip and closed his eyes. _Lame, man. Fucking lame._

"Oh." she started. "But Sun Ning's here so…"

"Oh no no. Yue. You can have lunch with him. Or he can have lunch with us, I guess?"

Didi tried his very best not to frown towards this Sun Ning's direction. He looked straight at Yueyue, not acknowledging his presence.

"I guess, but…" Yueyue looked at him. "Come on, Di. Let's talk." she pulled him out of the tent.

Once they were out of the tent, Yueyue pushed his arm slightly. "Di, what are you doing?"

"What 'what am I doing?'" he frowned at her. "I want to have lunch now."

"Di, stop pouting!"

Didi huffed indignantly.

"Listen, Di." She took a deep breath. "I'm gonna have to have lunch with Ning alone. He went all the way here to see me."

Didi wrung and un-wrung the hem of his shirt. He wasn't sure how he felt at the exact moment, but the closest word he could make out was _abandoned_. He felt like a kid again, lost by his own mother in the park.

"But Yueyue…"

He looked straight into her eyes. She was biting her lips and suppressing a smile. Her eyes made a run on his face, and then she burst out, giggling.

"What?!"

"Nothing, nothing." she waved her hand, smiling at him. Didi was more than confused. "Okay, here. I'll take Sun Ning to a quick lunch, I won't eat much, then when I come back, I'm eating lunch with you, is that alright?"

Didi felt like this was fair enough, but he still felt dejected about the fact that she's still going out with the Sun Ning guy.

"Okay."

"Don't sulk, Di. I'm coming back for you. But Ning, he's my friend too, and he came all the way to visit me." she said gently, like how his mom talked to him after she found him crying in the park.

"I'm not sulking!" he shouted. "Okay, you should go back quickly. I'm hungry."

"Promise." she held her palm up as a sign of promise. Didi noticed that she's still biting her lips, so he reached for her chin to free her lower lip.

"Okay. I'll go now."

Yueyue smiled delightedly, waving him goodbye.

She didn't go back until it was three in the afternoon.

Kankan, Xize, Kuan and Jia all persuaded him to eat, but he ultimately ignored all their words and a plate of french fries from Jia.

"Di, you sure you don't wanna eat? It's almost three." said Jia as she stuffed her face with French fries. Didi huffed.

"No." he sighed and just continued playing with his phone.

He was starving. He could literally hear his stomach growling and could feel his intestines tighten and untighten in discomfort. But he waited because she said she would go back soon. But four hours had passed and still no sign of Yueyue and that guy.

He could feel dejection and anger brewing inside his chest.

"Oh there she is." Jia announced and Didi almost snapped his neck turning around.

But it was only Angie Chai.

Jia cackled.

"Dammit, Jia Qi!" he stomped his feet, stood up, and stormed out of the room.

Didi doesn't know where to go.

He finished all his individual scenes for the day in a span of four hours, and they're only waiting for Yueyue to come back and film two scenes with her. But since she's still out, he has to wait.

Only he doesn't want to wait anymore.

"' _I'm coming back for you'_ my ass." he huffed, kicking a stone on the pavement. "You're not even here!"

His feet had brought him to the back of the studio. It was a cold afternoon in mid-December, and Didi could feel the cold envelope his body even with layers after layers of clothing. The sun was out, but the bareness of winter trees coupled with the chilly gusts of wind made everything shades darker.

Or maybe because he was just upset.

He knew it was very childish of him, acting like the jealous git and not wanting her to spend too much time with her friend. But he couldn't help it. He wants all her attention so bad, it's starting to scare him. He wants to see all her smiles and be at the receiving end of all her stares.

He knew he couldn't, but he wants Yueyue all for himself.

 _Is this still a fucking crush, man?_

Didi sighed. It was more than a 'fucking crush'. He knew he's starting to fall in love. He's starting to feel a catastrophic shift in his world, one where it revolves around Yueyue. He's starting to see her in everything he does, think of her in every waking moment, yearn for her whenever she's not around.

It's slowly driving him crazy. But it is both a thrilling and frustrating experience to fall in love, especially to a person like Yueyue.

"Di. I'm here."

And there she was, smiling her apologetic smile, looking at him like he was a puppy she found discarded in a dark alley.

Tragic, but he liked it very much.

"You're back."

Yueyue pursed her lips in an attempt to hide a smile, but she shook her head and broke to a grin when Didi raised a brow at her.

"What's with that face, mister?" she took a step forward.

But since Didi very much admits to his pettiness, he took a step backward. This made the corners of her mouth rise once more.

"Nothing."

"Did you have lunch?"

"No." he growled. He was very upset that Yueyue left for four hours, but he was also equally upset that he's hungry because she left for four hours.

Yueyue smiled. "Then let's eat."

"I'm sure you've eaten. Don't bother, I'm going to grab something myself." he huffed, and turned around on his heels.

But before he could take another step forward, two small arms wrapped itself around his waist, hands overlapping on his belly.

He felt Yueyue's body on his back, the rise and fall of her chest and the warmth emanating from her embrace. He felt her nose poke on his spine, and the shallow breaths she made.

Didi smiled. He wanted to be angry so bad, but he felt like his brain had melted when she hugged him from behind.

"Yue."

"What?"

"What's happening?"

"I'm sorry." she let out a sigh. "I broke my word. I'm sorry, let's eat together, okay?"

Didi smiled. "Alright."

Yueyue chuckled a little. "You're not gonna fight me?"

"Do you want me to?"

She didn't speak for a while. "I guess no. You look like you're ready to cry a while ago."

"I was not!"

"Yes you were! You—" Didi pulled her arms in place when she started loosening her grip.

"We should just stay like this for a while." he whispered.

He heard her sigh, then replied with an airy "Okay."

"Hmm Yueyue?"

"Yeah?"

"I was jealous."

"I know."

"You knew?"

Yueyue squeezed him a little tighter. "Of course I knew, I was jealous yesterday. I would know."

Didi started laughing, and after a while, Yueyue laughed along with him too.

"Yueyue."

"What?"

"What are we gonna do?"

"Be together as much as we can."

In one swift move, Didi turned around without escaping her hug. He heard her gasp, but if she had any contentions, she didn't raise it. Instead she snuggled on his shirt and sighed.

Didi held her tighter. He felt a warm sensation erupt inside him, something that resembled recognition and familiarity. In her embrace, he felt a bizarre calmness he hadn't felt before. And the feeling of finally coming home.

 _I think I love you._ Didi almost whispered.


End file.
